On Sunday I heard a sermon exploring the biblical parable of the prodigal son, possibly done for the 500 millionth time in the last 2,000 years.

By coincidence the Monday mail included a nationally circulated letter from Walter Cronkite, the former newscaster, appealing for support of an organization called The Interfaith Alliance. The letter is a straight-from-the-shoulder effort to rally a defense against the newest attempt by the Christian Coalition and the American religious right to conscript God as a flag-bearer for their political agendas.

Both the sermon and Cronkite's letter were on the mark, although they weren't related in context or argument. The sermon quietly restated the point of the story of the lost son. He was the young man with a wanderlust who demanded and received his freedom and inheritance while his father was still alive, and then took off with the money and his yens for the thrilling life. He blew it all on wild living and wound up starving and feeding pigs to stay alive, after which he came back to his home, broken and contrite. His grateful father accepted him and celebrated, explaining somewhat futilely to his grumbling and dutiful younger son that he loved them equally. The moral was and is the redemptive power of forgiveness and reconciliation in our lives, even when those qualities may seem at odds with raw justice. For a lot of people that story seems to be a stretch, given the limits of human nature. But at the core of the story is the grace of humility.

That is one expression of Christianity. There are several others. Cronkite's letter tells us how brazenly some of the more militant elements of the Christian faith have tried to transform God into some kind of de facto commander-in-chief of their campaigns to build a political power.

On any list of notable Americans, Walter Cronkite's name will probably appear among the most respected. He has acquired that esteem for the professionalism of his work, his understanding of the human condition and a willingness to go to the heart of a moral issue. After he left daily journalism, he has involved himself in a range of such issues.

He explains: "When I anchored the evening news, I kept my opinions to myself. But now, more than ever, I feel I must speak out. That's because I am deeply disturbed by the dangerous and growing influence of people like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell on our nation's political leaders." Both, he said, "shamefully blamed America's courts and the highest levels of our government for the horrific Sept. 11 attacks on our nation. They said it happened because we ‘insulted God.’ Falwell went on to blame feminists, pro-choice Americans and other groups he despises.

"Like you, I understand that freedom of speech is a founding principle of our nation, and I respect people with the courage to speak their minds. As a concerned person of faith, however, I have watched with increasing alarm as the Christian Coalition and other Religious Right groups manipulate religion to further their intolerant, political agendas. Over the years Robertson and Falwell have gained considerable influence on local school boards, in the administration and in Congress. They have twisted the traditional healing role of religion into an intolerant, political platform."

I doubt that Cronkite is campaigning for Democrats. He spoke as he did as part of a fund appeal to give The Interfaith Alliance some faint voice in the raging dialogues of 2004, particularly in congressional and legislative brawls involving those who claim to speak from convictions of faith. The Interfaith Alliance doesn't seek support from specific religious denominations or organizations. It claims some 150,000 individual members who identify themselves, the alliance says, with 70 traditional houses of worship including all of the mainstream Christian churches, with Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and Jewish faiths and with others.

The Christian Coalition has more than two million members. It also has powerful fund-raising clout and access to the White House and a virtual partnership with it. It can also claim part of the credit and responsibility for electing George W. Bush.

The president of the Interfaith Alliance is the Rev. C. Welton Gaddy. In a letter accompanying Cronkite's he defines its mission as one "to protect religious pluralism, prevent the abuse of religion for partisan purposes and promote compassion, civility and mutual respect for human dignity."

But lofty mission statements are pretty thin gruel with which to defend the spiritual purposes of religion and faith against self-serving partnerships between religious militants and government. The catastrophic cost to the public and peace at the hands of arrogant religious fundamentalism can never be measured. It is easy to condemn the current Islamic version. It is not so easy to see the same kind of murderous fanaticism in the Christian Crusades of a thousand years ago that are partly responsible for the equally loathsome terrorism of today. But aggressive religious fundamentalism doesn't have to spill into terror and bloodshed to be destructive.

The Interfaith Alliance wants to grow into a public conscience, to mobilize people of good will and faith to counter the influence of the religious right in instigating what's happening in Congress and in many of the state legislatures today. Gaddy said this: "The Religious Right is currently working with their powerful allies in Congress to enact legislation that will allow houses of worship to participate directly in political campaigns, endorse or oppose political candidates, distribute partisan voter guides and still maintain their non-profit, tax-exempt status. If this law (H.R. 235) passes, televangelists like Pat Robertson will also be able to mobilize houses of worship, use their media to endorse political candidates, and maintain their tax-exempt status." Italics ours. The bill already has 165 co-sponsors.

Lest you conclude this a needlessly alarmist view of the mutual back scratching exercises of the Robertson’s and the White House, consider this assessment by the Alliance of the rewards to religious forces delivering votes in an election year:

"The Religious Right is also behind an executive order--signed by President Bush last year--that allows for federally funded job discrimination through his faith-based initiative on social services. Not surprisingly...one of the first (beneficiaries) of this new executive order that allows certain organizations to use tax dollars to discriminate in hiring was Pat Robertson, who received $500,000 for his program, Operation Blessing."

The same warriors of God in America who espoused the latter-day theology that AIDS, hurricanes and floods were acts of God punishing the world for humanism, homosexuality and abortion rights are now in a position to elect presidents and selection of Supreme Court justices. If that isn't enough to rush you to the ballot booth, nothing is.

The one voice silent in all of this is God's.

You have to believe it's not because of indifference. It may be bewilderment.

Copyright (c) 2004 Jim Klobuchar